Mayor of New York Michael R. Bloomberg to Issue Official Proclamation, “March is Cabaret Month." 2012 MAC Best Male Vocalist, Craig Pomranz, Led the Successful Campaign

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Next week, Mayor of the City of New York Michael R. Bloomberg will issue an official proclamation, “March is Cabaret Month.” Vocalist, Craig Pomranz, who led the successful campaign, will accept the proclamation on behalf of the Cabaret community at the Cabaret Hotline Anniversary Gala on March 6th.

Joe's Pub at The Public.
Photo: KEVIN YATAROLA

Nightclub performing in a Cabaret setting is a classic part of New York's identity in literature, films and television.Cabaret is New York, as much as theater, galleries and Central Park.

“The Mayor recognized that nightclub performing in a cabaret setting is a classic part of New York’s identity in films, television and literature," notes Pomranz. "Even people who have never been to the city imagine themselves sitting in a sophisticated nightclub, sipping a cocktail and watching a performer in an intimate setting. We hope this proclamation will draw more attention to this versatile and vibrant art form. Cabaret is New York, as much as theater, galleries and Central Park.”

Decades ago, club owners began using the informal declaration, “March is Cabaret Month” to coax audiences out of their apartments during the chilly, slow winter months. March was chosen because it began with the Backstage Bistro Awards and ended with the MAC awards. In 2008, Cabaret Hotline Online, a popular online website and newsletter, resurrected “March is Cabaret Month” with support from venue operators, organizations and performers. Cabaret Hotline’s Anniversary Gala will be even more celebratory this year, considering the Mayoral declaration.

Pomranz is an internationally known entertainer whose popularity and talent won him the coveted MAC Award for Best Male Vocalist in 2012. He is an ardent keeper of the Great American Songbook who advocated for the Mayoral proclamation out of true love for cabaret and nightclub performing.

He's not alone. Cabaret enthusiasts from all over the world flock each Fall to a multi-day convention in New York celebrating the art form. Fans and agents alike come to see legends like Marilyn Maye, Barbara Cook, Andrea Marcovicci and Ann Hampton Callaway, or discover cabaret newcomers like actress Emily Bergl (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Desperate Housewives) and other multi-talents like Lauren Fox, Stacy Sullivan or Gay Marshall. The genre is filled with passionately loyal performers and audiences.

Attracting New Yorkers and visitors alike, new places pop up all the time, like 54 Below in the Broadway district, which opened with a bang last summer. There are venues large and small from mainstay, Don't Tell Mama, to the Allen Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center and B.B. King's in Times Square, the intimate Metropolitan Room and the cutting edge of Joe's Pub at the Public.

The tony Cafe Carlyle is opening a new late night series, and even the East Village is getting into the “act” as Sidewalk Cafe begins a series of cabaret performances in March in a space that has traditionally been the home of the raucous Antifolk movement for nearly two decades. All of these venues, at their heart, whatever the genre, are about personal contact with an audience in an intimate space. That’s what cabaret is about, set to music. In New York, cabaret can almost be considered an indigenous art form.

Organization Info:
Cabaret Hotline: Is an Independent online resource for all things Cabaret, owned and maintained by Stu Hamstra. CH issues a free, twice-weekly email newsletter to over 3400 international followers. Not affiliated with any club or organization, it is totally supported through advertising and membership donations.

Manhattan Association of Cabaret and Clubs (MAC), founded 1983. MAC is a trade association whose activities are designed to heighten public awareness of the field’s contributions and vitality, to honor its creativity, to build its current and future audiences, and to speak out as an influential voice on behalf of MAC members and the industry at large. Members include cabaret, comedy and jazz artists, directors, musical directors, technical directors, musicians, club owners, booking managers, composers, lyricists, journalists, publicists, artists’ managers, agents, and friends and supporters of live entertainment.

The Mabel Mercer Foundation serves to both perpetuate the memory and spirit of its legendary namesake and to stimulate and promote public interest in the world of cabaret. It presents the annual New York Cabaret Convention at Frederick P. Rose Hall at Jazz at Lincoln Center as one of their major efforts.

Craig Pomranz is a recording artist, actor and singer. His children's book will be released in the U.S. and the UK next year by Janetta Otter-Barry Books, an imprint of Frances-Lincoln Publishers.

Other organizations contributing to the genre: Bistro Awards, held each March; Nightlife Awards; NitelifeExchange.com; Cabaret Scenes Magazine - the world's only magazine devoted to Cabaret; Broadway World; Theatermania.com and many more.

General Press Representative for March is Cabaret Month: Betsyann Faiella at Savoy PR
Contact: 212.222.2466 or cell 310.283.2415

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Photo Credits: Cafe Carlyle by Richard Termine; 54 Below by Marc Bryan-Brown; Joe's Pub at the Public by Kevin Yatarola.